A Republican family-values candidate in Ohio is facing calls from his own party to withdraw from the race after it was revealed he once set up an account on Ashley Madison, a dating site for people who are already married.
Joe Dills, who is running for state House, admitted he set up the account in 2013 to “connect with women for inappropriate relationships,” calling it “a moment of weakness.” However, he says he was single at the time and never met anyone through Ashley Madison.
Nevertheless, the Ohio Republican Party is calling for Dills to drop out.
“Mr. Dills crossed a line by joining this lewd and inappropriate website,” party Chairman Jane Timken said in a statement Friday. “I call for his immediate withdrawal from the race. There is no place in our party for people that exercise such a gross lack of judgment.”
More from the Cincinnati.com: The move comes after Dills touted an endorsement from Ohio Value Voters, an organization that supports “faith, life, marriage, family and religious freedom.” He posted about the endorsement on his Facebook page Jan. 17, but it has since been removed. Dills' Friday morning post was accompanied by a statement from Dills' wife Nikea in which she says the couple been supported by people close to them, including their pastors. “Joe will be the first to tell you of the mistakes he has made and how God has transformed him,” Nikea Dills wrote. “I watched as God took a lost broken man and began to shape him and form him into the good Godly man with incredible morals and values that he is today.”
